Arrangement in loading pallets with supporting walls

ABSTRACT

The invention is concerned with a loading pallet having two opposite parallel supporting side walls, a supporting rear wall and a detachable supporting front wall. The pallet also has a bottom frame shaped as a U, the open portion of said U facing said front wall and providing an attachment for said supporting walls. A bottom plate is placed on the bottom frame so as to fit between the supporting walls and adapted to be folded up against the rear supporting wall or one of the supporting side walls. The dimensions are such as to permit two similar loading pallets, viz. a first and a second loading pallet, with their front supporting walls and their bottom plates in folded-up position to be fitted together front to front so that the side supporting of the first loading pallet will be surrounded by two supporting side walls of the second loading pallet.

United States Patent Lindqvist [54] ARRANGEMENT IN LOADING PALLETS WITHSUPPORTING WALLS [72] Inventor: Karl Slgvard Rune Llndqvlst, Grythyttan,

Sweden [73] Assignee; Combitalner S.A., Geneva, Switzerland 221 FiledzFeb. 5, 1911 21 Appl.No.: 112,948

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data March 25, 1970 Sweden ..4139/7052 U.S.Cl. ..l08/55,108/56 511 mu! B65dl9/18 [S8] fleldofseareh..l08/5I-58;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,503,562 4/1950 Porter..l08/55X 2,669,373 2/1954 Coit,Jr. ..220/84 [451 July 18, 1972 Pn'maryExaminer-Bobby R. Gay Assistant Examiner-Glenn O. Finch Attomey-AlbertM. Parker ABSTRACT The invention is concerned with a loading pallethaving two opposite parallel supporting side walls, a supporting rearwall and a detachable supporting front wall. The pallet also has abottom frame shaped as a U, the open portion of said U facing said frontwall and providing an attachment for said supporting walls. A bottomplate is placed on the bottom frame so as to fit between the supportingwalls and adapted to be folded up against the rear supporting wall orone of the supporting side walls. The dimensions are such as to permittwo similar loading pallets, viz. a first and a second loading pallet,with their front supporting walls and their bottom plates in foldedupposition to be fitted together front to front so that the sidesupporting of the first loading pallet will be surrounded by twosupporting side walls of the second loading pallet.

2 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures Patented July 18, 1972 Fig.3

Fig.4

A T TORNE Y.

ARRANGEMENT IN LOADING PALLETS WITH SUPPORTING WALLS The presentinvention relates to loading pallets or the like,

provided with four supporting walls, said pallets being in the form ofso-called containers, possibly movable on wheels. Particularly theinvention relates to loading pallets of the type in which thesupporting-walls comprise two opposite, approximately parallel sidewalls, a rear wall and a removable front wall.

Principally the invention aims at designing loading pallets of this typein such a way that two identical pallets can be fitted together when notin use for loading so that together they take up the least possiblefloor space.

The invention will be further described with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 shows a front view of anembodiment of the loading pallet according to the invention ready forloading,

FIG. 2 a top view of the same loading pallet,

FlG. 3 a top view of the loading pallet ready for being fitted into asimilar loading pallet,

FIG. 4 a top view of the loading pallets fitted together, and

FIG. 5 a cross section of part of the pallet on a larger scale.

All the figures are schematical and intended only to serve as examples.ldentical parts in the different figures are indicated by the samereference designations.

The pallet project consists of a bottom frame 1 and a bottom plate 2.The four walls comprise two upright side walls 3 and 4, a rear wall 5and a removable front wall 6. Normally the walls are cage or grid shapedhaving an outer frame. However, since the construction of the wallsurface has no importance in connection with the invention, each wall isonly indicated by an outer frame. The side walls and back walls may bepermanently or removably attached to each other and to the bottom frame,for example by means of bolt joints. However, the lower edge of thefront wall 6 engages recesses 8a or the like in the bottom frame bymeans of two hooks 8 (FIG. 5), the upper part detachably engaging theside walls 3 and 4 by means of two cotter pins 9 or the like. If thecotter engagement is released the front wall can be folded forwards asshown by the arrow 10 (H6. 5) so that the wall can be unhooked from thebottom frame. It can be attached again in the opposite manner.

According to the invention the bottom frame I seen from above isU-shaped opening towards the front wall 6 and the bottom plate 2 can befolded up against one side wall 3 by means of hinges 7. Thus, with thefront walls removed and the bottom plates folded up, two such palletscan be fitted into each other front to front in accordance with FIG. 4so that one side wall 4 of the first loading pallet is surrounded by thetwo side walls 3 and 4 of the second loading pallet and together theytake up a floor space which does not greatly exceed the floor spacerequired for a single loading pallet.

Of course the bottom plate 6 may also be secured in its folded positionby means of some catch means or other blocking arrangement. Aparticularly suitable method, however, (FIG. 3) is to place the frontwall 6, after it having been removed, in front of the folded bottomplate with its hooks 8 in recesses 8a intended arranged for this purposein the bottom frame 1 (FIG. 2) and with one cotter pin 9 inserted in acorresponding attachment (not shown in the drawings) in the back wall 5(or one side wall 3). Since in this way the front wall has to keep thefolded bottom plate in position it cannot be unintentionally set asidebut will always be adjacent the loading pallets when they are to beused. For the same reason it is advisable to attach the bottom plate bymeans of the hinges 7. In principle, however, it would be sufficient tohave it lying loose on the bottom frame, and to raise it when necessaryagainst the side wall.

With the guidance of the embodiment now illustrated many parts can befurther modified within the scope of the invention. For example thefunction of the cotter pins 9 can be achieved by many other variationsof the blocking means, for

example of the type havin parts which are clamped together by wedge-likeaction. All t e support walls may be removable like the front wall, thebottom frame may be provided with pivot rollers so that it can be movedalong the floor, etc.

The bottom plate 6 may also be folded up against the back wall 5 insimilar manner.

What I claim is:

l. Arrangement in loading pallets having four supporting wallscomprising two opposite parallel side walls, a rear wall and adetachable front wall, characterized in that the pallet also is providedwith a bottom frame which is U-shaped in horizontal projection and opentowards the front wall, said bottom frame forming an attachment for thesupporting walls, and a bottom plate being placed on the bottom frame tofit between the supporting walls and adapted to be folded up against onewall, the opening of the bottom frame towards the front wall being sodimensioned as to permit two similar loading pallets with the frontwalls removed and the bottom plates folded up to be fitted togetherfront to front so that one side wall of the first loading pallet will besurrounded by two side walls of the second loading pallet.

2. Loading pallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the frontwall is provided with blocking means arranged to detachably cooperatewith the adjacent side walls to keep the front wall in normal loadingposition and also with one wall in a position against the folded bottomplate on the inside of this side wall, in the latter case serving assupport for this bottom plate.

1. Arrangement in loading pallets having four supporting wallscomprising two opposite parallel side walls, a rear wall and adetachable front wall, characterized in that the pallet also is providedwith a bottom frame which is U-shaped in horizontal projection and opentowards the front wall, said bottom frame forming an attachment for thesupporting walls, and a bottom plate being placed on the bottom frame tofit between the supporting walls and adapted to be folded up against onewall, the opening of the bottom frame towards the front wall being sodimensioned as to permit two similar loading pallets with the frontwalls removed and the bottom plates folded up to be fitted togetherfront to front so that one side wall of the first loading pallet will besurrounded by two side walls of the second loading pallet.
 2. Loadingpallet according to claim 1, characterized in that the front wall isprovided with blocking means arranged to detachably cooperate with theadjacent side walls to keep the front wall in normal loading positionand also with one wall in a position against the folded bottom plate onthe inside of this side wall, in the latter case serving as support forthis bottom plate.